It has been proposed to place an RFID tag on or in a wall of a container to confirm the genuineness of the package that includes the container and/or to provide other information concerning the package or a product within the package. Such RFID tag can be secured to a wall of the container after fabrication of the container, embedded in a wall of the container during blow molding of the container, or assembled to a container preform in such a way that the tag will be embedded in a wall of the container following blow molding of the preform. There is a desire to provide a means for disabling the RFID tag, which typically includes an RFID circuit and an antenna, to maintain the privacy of a customer, for example. When the customer purchases a package of medication, for example, the tag should be in place to confirm genuineness of the package and/or for other information purposes. However, after purchase, the customer may want to have the RFID tag removed, without opening the package, for privacy or other reasons. A general object of the present disclosure is to provide an RFID insert in which the RFID tag can be readily removed and/or to provide a container that includes such an RFID insert.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
An RFID insert, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, includes a housing of molded plastic construction and an RFID tag captured within the housing. A portion of the housing is permanently frangibly removable from the remainder of the housing to remove the RFID tag from within the housing and thereby disable RFID operation of the insert. The housing preferably includes a center portion connected to a ring-shaped periphery by a plurality of angularly spaced frangible bridges. The center portion of the housing may include a slot or pocket for engagement by a tool to twist the center portion with respect to the periphery and thereby facilitate rupture of the bridges, and/or may include indicia to identify presence of the RFID tag in the insert.
An RFID insert, in an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, and in accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, includes a base having a peripheral wall, a disk having a periphery internally engaged with the peripheral wall, and an RFID inlay, including an RFID tag, captured between the disk and the base. One of the disk and the base, preferably the disk, has a portion that is removable for removing the RFID inlay and thereby disabling the RFID insert.
A molded plastic container in accordance with a further aspect of the present disclosure includes a container body having a base and an RFID insert molded into the container base. The ring-shaped periphery of the RFID insert housing preferably includes a wall that prevents flow of container material onto the center portion of the insert during the blow molding operation.